


The First Layer

by din_ari



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Friendship, M/M, Nature, Whole thing inspired by Made in Abyss soundtrack which is beautiful and recommended, jicheol are soft, kinda hinting at more than friendship, yes leaves and shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15831426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/din_ari/pseuds/din_ari
Summary: Seungcheol whistles appreciatively at the cascading waterfall, stirring up a cool mist, reflecting the morning sunlight to create a spectrum of colours.“This never gets old.”* 02/10/18 small edits made coz I’m never (or will ever be) satisfied with the work *





	The First Layer

“Come on Jihoonie! It’s just a bit more!” Seungcheol hollers at Jihoon. 

Running across the soft moss without any sign of slowing, Seuncheol looks back just to see if Jihoon is still there, “I promise you, it’ll be worth it!” Seungcheol’s promise fades in the breeze, barely caught by the younger male.  
All Jihoon can do is pant in response. He’s been at a full sprint for two minutes straight and if Seungcheol expects a response he obviously isn’t deemed one— not after the 120 seconds of hell Jihoon was just put through.  
Ahead, he can see Seungcheol has stopped at a wall of green willow vines, and with the smallest hint of satisfaction, sees his hyung hunched over his knees and recovering his breath. Seungcheol can suffer too.

Seungcheol straightens— seemingly over his suffering— waving his hand in a large arc, gesturing to the younger man.  
“Jihoon-ah, pick up the pace!” 

Jihoon slows to a sluggish walk as he nears Seungcheol, he can hear the rush of water close by but doesn’t pay the thought any attention. He finally reaches Seungcheol and the older man grins fondly, “Aish Jihoonie, we need to get you exercising and fit.” Jihoon gives him a listless middle finger, and, unsurprisingly, the rude gesture goes unnoticed by Seungcheol, who continues to grin down at Jihoon. Jihoon, who is crouching at the foot of the protruding wall of green tendrils trying, desperately, to fill his lungs with oxygen, can feel the fondness oozing from every pore of the man standing over him, and tries to ignore the way this particular brand of fondness /affects/ him. After a heartbeat, Seungcheol seems to be satisfied with Jihoon’s recovery and steps away from the crouching figure and torwards the willow vines, much to Jihoon’s obvious and glaring dismay— Jihoon is still dying over here.

Seungcheol pulls the leafy tendrils aside to reveal a clearing, cleverly obscured by the lush greenery hanging from the thick branches of the rough oak; like a tapestry hanging from the large wall of oak trees spreading from either side. The movement causes the thousands of pollen beads resting on the willow to stir and drift slowly in the soft blowing breeze. And, a gentle sweetness greets the air, moving throughout Jihoon and blanketing his mind in a comfortable and tantalizing haze. 

Once again Jihoon is at a loss. He gasps and his breath seems to escape him for the second time that morning. Still holding aside the willow vines, Seungcheol waits for Jihoon to stand upright and take a step through the low opening. 

Jihoon leads the two across the short entrance, ducking low through the narrow space of the trunk— its walls glowing with speckles of beautiful fluorescent yellow. As Jihoon takes his first few crouching steps through, it dawns on him, a second before Seungcheol warns; “Careful Jihoonie, fireflies.” The fluorescent dots gently bristle but they’re sedated by sleep and Jihoon is suddenly silent in his steps, glaring behind him— Seungcheol, whispering or not, cannot be quiet. His face is bathed in the weak light given off by the sleeping fireflies and Jihoon quickly looks forward— Seungcheol just misses the flustered look on Jihoon, lost to the dim lighting. 

Finally, after some very cautious treading, the boys make it through, into a blue glade.  
Through the hollow passageway, the clearing opens wide— to the left, a great sparkling wall of rock greets the boys. Seungcheol whistles appreciatively at the cascading waterfall, stirring up a cool mist, reflecting the morning sunlight to create a spectrum of colours.

“This never gets old,” Seungcheol whispers into the rushing sound of liquid on solid rock, “I hope you like it Jihoonie.”  
Jihoon can hear the shyness creeping into the usual confident rumble of the older male among the chirping of the small woodland creatures and, of course, the coasting rush of the waterfall.  
He breaks his attention away from the gorgeous sight to see the older male rubbing his neck, avoiding his gaze. 

That is not normal. 

Jihoon, himself, becomes shy; touched and much too emotional at the gesture and everything else around him, it makes him breathless (yet again). It takes his full self-discipline and effort to quash the feelings brimming within him behind a slight pout.

How long has Seungcheol known about this place? 

Jihoon returns his attention to the natural beauty before him (obviously the rock pool and waterfall, not Seungcheol) and scours the slate of rocks making up the lip of the water source, below the spray of water— constantly rippling with the force of the torrent. He can’t help but wonder why the older boy would bring him to such a private and beautiful space.

“Of course I’d bring you here, silly,” Jihoon is distracted by Seungcheol’s voice (again), breaking him out of his stupor, and Seungcheol is the only one who can rob his attention so quickly. Seungcheol returns Jihoon’s gaze with hesitant sincerity, as if plucking Jihoon’s previous train of thought right out of his brain, “I would never hide anything from my best friend.” Again, he tears away from Jihoon and looks fleetingly around him, everywhere and nowhere. 

Jihoon feels warmth spread from his chest, to the tips of his toes, the tips of his fingers and finally, he can feel the heat sweep up his neck and onto his face. He’s blushing.

Jihoon scowls,  
“It’s beautiful.”  
Seungcheol throws his head back in laughter, it’s a typical reaction by the younger male and his comment seems to contradict the scathing scowl that graces his precious face.  
Seungcheol cannot smother the laughter spilling out of himself and Jihoon makes a spectacle of whacking his hyung across the chest in sheer bashfulness. Seungcheol bursts at the seams and the laughter is free and unconstrained, filling up the enclosed bubble of the glade and reverberating against the thick trunks surrounding them. For a minute the laughter continues, only broken up by the occasional ‘ow’ and accompanied by the constant grumbling that inevitably escapes Jihoon’s sharp mouth. Time stretches out, and despite Jihoon’s (fake) annoyance and irritation, the two boys live in the moment and the company they find within each other. A familiar company that has been cherished and will continue to be cherished for a long time coming.

Seungcheol suddenly falls silent, the brightest beaming grin paints his face gorgeously, as he looks down at the futile aggression being enacted towards him. In a moment of rapture, Seungcheol surges forward, capturing Jihoon and his half-assed attempts of trying to /hurt/ Seungcheol (like he would hurt a fly), and effectively muffles the embarrassed grumbling streaming out of Jihoon.  
They just stand there, tucked in an embrace. They stand still in the movement of the blue glade around them.

“Thank you, hyung.”  
The grateful admission is mumbled by the smaller male after a moment, into the non-existent space between the two. Seungcheol tightens his enclose.  
Jihoon clutches at Seungcheol’s chest where his hands had already been captured, relaxing into the embrace. 

Jihoon is aware that Seungcheol knows how truly grateful the younger is. And no amount of fake irritation or sharp glares and scowls could ever cloud the gratitude that is genuinely conveyed in the smallest actions enacted by Jihoon; each small smile, every nod of the head, even the rare bouts of compliance and patience Jihoon shows in the event of Seungcheol’s (sometimes) stupid antics, all convey the message.

/Thank you hyung./

**Author's Note:**

> Hi~~  
> Thank you for reading this very short thing. I kinda want to explore this outlet and excel my writing coz it’s fun huhu  
> Title from Made in Abyss OST- First Layer
> 
> *why is the formatting so difficult x( but the ‘/‘ are used as /italics/ (I wish I knew how to work and publish on ao3 properly sigh)*
> 
> Follow me on twitter @4643ariani, for just your typical retweeting fanacc ^~^
> 
> Please comment anything below and constructive criticism is highly welcomed, if you want me to write more tell me so and I’ll try my best!!


End file.
